


Left Behind

by SoVeryAverageMe



Series: muses (a hq!! rewatch project) [5]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Awkward Kageyama Tobio, Gen, Growing Up, Insecure Kageyama Tobio, Mentorship, S01E05: A Coward's Anxiety, Sugawara Koushi is a Good Friend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-28
Updated: 2020-01-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:41:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22446556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoVeryAverageMe/pseuds/SoVeryAverageMe
Summary: Kageyama realized that he had big shoes to fill, now that Suga has graduated. He wasn't sure if it was ever going to be possible for him. Luckily, he ran into Suga at Shimada Mart a few days later.(Or, Kageyama becomes Karasuno's official setter and must figure out what that means now that the third years are gone.)
Relationships: Kageyama Tobio & Sugawara Koushi
Series: muses (a hq!! rewatch project) [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1592755
Comments: 10
Kudos: 134





	Left Behind

**Author's Note:**

> Attempting to course correct this rewatch project back on schedule. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

The day after the last day of school, Kageyama ran into Sugawara at Shimada Mart. The gray-haired man greeted him with a bright smile.

“Kageyama! How are you?” Suga picked a couple of bags of chips off the shelf, placing them in the shopping basket hanging from his forearm. “Ready to be a second year?” 

“I’m—” He shrugged noncommittally, “I’m fine.” 

Suga leaned closer, inspecting him. “Are you alright? You seem… off.” 

“I guess,” he paused, shaking his head back and forth. “I guess it hasn’t quite set in that you and the rest of the third years aren’t coming back.” He stared at the floor, unwilling to look at Suga’s reaction. 

He felt a hand on his shoulder, pulling him toward the cash register. “Here, take a walk with me.” Suga paid for his snacks, adding Kageyama’s Cup-a-Noodle to his pile, insisting on paying for his kouhai one last time. 

The two left the store, starting on an aimless walk around the block. “So, what’s on your mind?” Suga asked, while they were waiting for the crosswalk. Kageyama didn’t answer. After another block of silence, Suga lightly cuffed him on the back of his head.

He jumped at the impact, turning to look at the recent graduate. Suga just raised his eyebrows, waiting for him to say something. “I guess— I just don’t know what happens now.” 

“You’re officially the setter of Karasuno,” Suga smiled, knocking against his shoulder. “Although, I guess you’ve been setter all year. Now you just don’t have me as competition.” 

“You were never competition—” Kageyama cut himself off. “I mean— It’s not that I didn’t take you seriously. You’re a really good setter. I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just— ah.” 

“Take a breath, Kageyama.” Suga placed a hand on his shoulder. “I’m not offended. It was clear from the very first day that your technical volleyball skills were much better than mine.” 

“No. That’s not what I’m trying to say.” Kageyama shook his head trying to figure out how to articulate his feelings. “It’s just… I always thought that having another setter on the team would be like Oikawa all over again.” 

“You guys were only in middle school. I’ve had enough time to feel secure in my place in the team, and any jealousy that I felt was superseded by how proud I was of Karasuno.” 

“See!” Kageyama exclaimed, “You’re doing it right now. I always thought that I had to be a setter like Oikawa, but you taught me that there were other ways to succeed.” 

Suga ruffled his hair. “And, now you’ll get to teach your own kouhai that.” Kageyama froze, and Suga nearly continued walking without him before circling back to the younger boy. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know how to do that.” 

“You’ll do fine.” Suga clapped him on the shoulder. “And, it’s not like you’ll be alone.”

“I don’t know how to talk to people, though.” He slouched, curling up on himself.

“Maybe in the beginning you were a bit abrasive, but,” he narrowed his eyes, lost in thought. “You’ve come a long way in the last year. I mean, look at us now, having a full conversation that’s not about volleyball.” 

He couldn’t help but smile at that statement, “But, they still don’t trust me like they trust you, though.” Kageyama shook his head. “I can’t break the tension like you or make everyone laugh or anything like that.”

“You didn’t need to be Oikawa, and you don’t need to be me either. Teams take time, Kageyama.” Suga laughed, “I bet by third year, even you and Tsukishima will be on the same wavelength.”

Over the last year Tsukishima and him had gone from rivals to begrudging teammates, but he wasn’t sure that he could imagine syncing with him on the court like he did with Hinata. “You really think so?” 

“I think that Karasuno still has a long way to evolve, and that you first years are going to be right in the middle of it.” Suga said this with such sagely confidence, it was hard to imagine any other outcome. It wasn’t just an opinion, it was a prophecy. 

His emotions were almost overwhelming. “Still, everything will change now.” Kageyama scrubbed at his eyes, willing himself not to cry. “How are we supposed to go on without you or Daichi or Asahi or Kiyoko?”

“The same way that we did when  _ our _ third years graduated.”

“That easy, huh?” Kageyama avoided the other boy’s gaze. “You know, at the first Interhigh game, I was watching you.” Suga looked confused at the sudden change of subject. “I’m not sure what I was looking for. Maybe some sign that you weren’t as okay with me being setter as you told the others. But you just looked excited.” 

“Of course I was.” They had circled the block and found themselves back in front of the Shimada Mart. Suga stopped walking, pulling Kageyama off to the side. “Just because I wasn’t on the court, didn’t mean that I wasn’t part of the team.” 

“I didn’t know that was even possible before Karasuno.” Kageyama looked at Suga, mustering the courage to continue. “I know you were joking about telling reporters that I learned everything from you if I ever became famous.” Kageyama paused, taking a deep breath. “But you’re right. You may not have taught me how to play volleyball, but you definitely taught me how to be  _ a setter. _ ” 

Suga pulled him into a hug, crushing Kageyama against his chest. “And, you said you were bad at talking to people.” He sounded a bit choked up. 

“Maybe, but you’ve always made it easy,” Kageyama said, muffled by Suga’s shoulder. He pulled away from Suga, stepping out of his arms and dropping into a bow. “Thank you, Sugawara.” 

Suga didn’t say anything, and Kageyama looked up nervously, slowly standing up straight. He shifted his weight from side to side, waiting for him to say something. 

“Please, take care of Karasuno.” Suga returned his bow, smile shaky. “I’m counting on you. 

“I won’t let you down.” 

Maybe, Suga was right after all. Somehow the other setter’s sagely wisdom must have trickled down to him, because his words felt like they carried much more weight than a mere promise.

They were destiny. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Feel free to check out what I'm up to on other parts of the internet (I'm probably regretting this challenge on [twitter](https://twitter.com/SoVeryAverageMe) or procrastinating on [tumblr](https://soveryaverageme.tumblr.com/)).


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